In 2005, airlines moved nearly five million people over 40 million miles every day. Conventional airlines, however, do not make optimal use of their aircraft and personnel. For example, airlines generally do not capitalize on existing information residing in various systems because each system solves a niche problem. By understanding the interrelated factors (e.g., weather, unscheduled equipment maintenance, late airplane arrivals, late passengers, crew shortages, aircraft loading, regulatory authority practices, etc.) that can delay an aircraft turn at a gate of an airport, situational awareness of actual events in relation to the flight schedule can provide information to maximize profits. Situational awareness communications are not limited to gathering and presenting data from a plurality of aircraft systems when the aircraft is in the air, but also includes gathering data when the aircraft is on the ground. Situational awareness communication is generally bidirectional.
Situational awareness is a term that may be used to refer to the degree of accuracy by which one's perception of his/her current environment mirrors reality. It is the ability to identify, process, and comprehend the critical elements of information about what is happening in a person's respective environment based on a mission, for example, airline operations. More simply, situational awareness refers generally to one's knowledge what is going on around one. Different groups of people and different people within a group need different information to be aware of different aspects of a situation in order to determine a proper resolution to the situation. When an enterprise loses situational awareness, there is increased potential for human error and other mishaps.
Situational awareness in the context of airline operations has traditionally been confined to ground based systems with ground-based presentation to ground based users. Increasingly sophisticated on-board automated aircraft systems and aircraft communication systems provide the opportunity for the aircraft, whether in the air or on the ground to be in communication in real time with systems on the ground. For example, airline, airport station, maintenance operations, and business functions have traditionally been complex, and characterized by failures in situational awareness. In the future, these airline operations will be even more complex because more information will be available from the aircraft to make decisions. Accordingly, there is a need for enhanced situational awareness systems for airline operations.